


In His Warmth

by Miri1984



Category: Rusty Quill Gaming (Podcast)
Genre: Apollo loves him, Gen, canon typical ed being lovely, finding faith, mild mention of unhappy home life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-30
Updated: 2020-04-30
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:28:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23926159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miri1984/pseuds/Miri1984
Summary: A Little Treat!
Comments: 7
Kudos: 40
Collections: Rusty Quill Gaming Exchange 2020





	In His Warmth

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Arazsya](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arazsya/gifts).



Ed had always loved the sun. Since he was a boy, he and his brothers would be bathed by their nurse and then, if the weather was good enough, sent outside to play in the sunshine, to dry their hair, the nurse said, although Ed sometimes thought she was just a little tired and wanted the chance to sit in the sun herself, watch her charges as they ran and played, or in Ed’s case, usually, found a patch of grass far enough away from his brothers that they wouldn’t think to try to include him (or tell him he wasn’t allowed to join in on) their games.

He would lie on his back in the sun and let its rays soak into his skin. It felt like a warm hug. It felt like the most comfortable bed in the world. It felt like being licked by his father’s hounds - pure and non-judgemental warmth, the kind of warmth that shelters and protected. 

As he got older, it became more difficult to find time to get out into the sunshine. His lessons were more and more difficult, his father’s face, more and more drawn and disappointed. Still, when things got too much, he would find his way to the gardens again, to his patch of sun, and he would sit or lie there, and sometimes the warmth would be enough to chase the cares and worries he carried away.

He was there, one day, when he was about thirteen, when the priestess of Apollo found him.

He blinked as a shadow came across his beloved sun, and looked up into golden glory. It took a moment for him to realise that the gold was armor, that the woman wearing it was a paladin, a paladin, like from the stories! And he scrambled to his feet, desperately trying to remember what the correct protocols were for greeting a member of the faith…

“Mmm,” the woman said, then gave him a dazzling smile. “You’re a true child of the sun, I see, my lad.”

“Pardon?”

Her smile deepened. “Apollo watches over you,” she said. “And favours you.” 

“He does?”

She nodded, reached out and patted his shoulder. The same kind of warmth came over him, that he felt from the sun. “I think we shall see you at the temple very soon,” she said, and Ed wanted to ask her everything, every question he’d ever thought of, what was Apollo like, what did you do, when you were a paladin, what kind of quests had she gone on…? But he could hear his brothers calling from the house and knew with a sinking certainty that he’d missed the start of another lesson. 

“I have to go,” he said. Her smile didn’t dim, and she squeezed his shoulder again.

“Think of him,” she said. “He thinks of you.”

Ed sucked at his lip for a long moment, wanting to stay in the combined warmth of this woman and the sunlight that surrounded them both. “I will,” he stammered out, eventually, pulling away as his brother’s cries became more angry. “I promise, I will.”


End file.
